Heard about one of my friend attending an ORKUT farewell party & I couldn't help but
smile & sigh to myself. It is indeed a painful story, of the rise &
then the downfall & worse of one of the social media sensations of the
early 2000's. My teenage years would for sure be incomplete without Orkut &
the scraps through which I chatted with this girl I had a serious crush on
since the 7th to 10th standard. Those scraps were like the conversations we
never had & what I always dreamt of in those four years. Of course, it
killed all of my dreams when later I found out that she had a boyfriend from
the 9th standard itself!
Speaking of killing, what would you say today's modern man
& woman need for basic survival? Gone are the days it seems of the roti, kapda, makaan! Today it is the roti,
kapda, makaan & social media! As FACEBOOK aptly demonstrated
through its recent survey when it peeped
into users status' & comments & concluded that millions of users used
the social networking website as a platform to release pent up emotions &
voice themselves. As also the befitting example of social media outbreaks &
revolutions in Communist countries such as China speaks volumes about the need
for social media for the modern world citizen.
Let's talk about the roti
& social media now. They are certainly two big weaknesses of the modern
citizen. He can spend a lifetime gorging on either of the two. So can you
imagine the cumulative effect they would have if both of them shook hands? Restaurants
& hotel managers could well obtain their Midas touch!! But despite the
amazing possibilities, we here in India don't seem to have embraced the idea as
enthusiastically. Hardly any restaurant/ eatery or hotel can really boast of a
significant online presence and taking that extra effort to bond beyond the
banquet. But then if it is such a killer combination, why are they not
embracing it? It's not about the money, they say. While communication with
customers is crucial, the moolah does get priority! Plus, it's more of a
marketing/ promotional thing, right? So they have got an entire team that
handles all of this. They'd do the job of spreading the word. Some go one
better, saying their taste & hospitality speaks for themselves & they
have never & will never resort to 'such means' to publicise themselves! No
wonder my neighbour had his eyebrows narrowed & an unfamiliar gaze when I
asked him about what he felt about that restaurant in the suburbs. We might
want to take a leaf out of The Nandos, a UK based chain whose Portuguese
peri peri chicken has become a rage since the past two years, thanks to
its own Twitter page. With activities like hashtag competitions, the page has
had a super impressive count of 1.1 million followers, including many celebrity
fans as well. The latest in line of their enthusiastic online endeavours is
called #NandoGrills where certain celebrities are interviewed on film
while relishing their favourite meal at the chain and uploaded on Youtube. Or
on more familiar grounds, there's American food giant McDonalds, whose Facebook
page has over 29 million fans and is used to announce various competitions,
launch of new products, post pictures enjoying their favourite McDish and more
importantly to further the image that McDonalds wishes to create of being the
happy & health conscious brand in addition to its enter-exit strategy of
serving food. There's also the example of New York based Latin American eatery Comodo
that asks its customers to 'Instagram' their delicacies before they eat
it & accompany it with the hashtag #comodomenu. In this manner, future
customers' attention is drawn towards the delicacies offered at the eatery even
before they visit it. The use of
Instagram enabled Comodo to catch the attention of the viewers, thereby
increasing their customer & prospective customer base significantly. Also,
with attractive photography of their products & infrastructure on a
professional level & uploading the pictures on social media platforms, the
restaurants would already be whetting the appetites of God knows how many
netizens! Apart from all of the following, more personal measures taken by
restaurants to communicate one on one with customers, understand their likes &
dislikes, receive reviews on new additions to the menu, new schemes/offers
introduced & updates in the overall management would make for the most
valuable TIP there ever can be.
Interactions through blogs & chat forums can help in sharing &
creation of new ideas within a loyal support group which would help in
executing these ideas. Events &
parties can be aggressively promoted via videos, photos & posters shared on
social networking websites & blogs.
And what is this all ultimately leading to? The
very grouse that restaurants have against social media, facilitation of
revenue! With an increased customer base, fan following, brand establishing
exercises apart from the usual word of mouth & a virtual personal touch,
the moolah is to flow in eventually. The Midas touch doesn't seem all that
ideal now, eh? So you might want to go online now because I am already ogling
at some food-gasmic delicacies of my favourite eatery online & making plans
for the weekend! Bon appetit!
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